Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 28th March 2014

Well hello hello! Yes, my dear blog reader, it's Friday!

This week the 'Small man called Min live tour' went to Munich and I learnt that they like analytics and science and beer. I learnt that they invented most things, like the light bulb (they do like to show this off as you can see from the rather grand chandelier pic which was in my hotel room) and the computer and the airplane. Don't tell the Wright Brothers about that last one.

So on the lovely met line and everyone is looking quite pleased with themselves. Wonder if that's because they got their Mother's Day presents sorted?

Advert on the tube: if you spot someone Ill or in pain please help them off the train.

Nice, what about if they were on the way to Northwick Park Hospital as they weren't well and now you've just rugby tacked them off the train at Great Portland Street as they had looked a bit pink...

App of the week: Medium. Ok this week I have something slightly different for you. It's not as you may think from the title some sort of app to let you connect with the spirits world, or an app talking about the average size of clothing. No my friends, this is called Medium for no reason at all...it's a really interesting set of articles (similar to flipboard) that you can also read offline in the tunnels between Kings Cross and Finchely Road. What I really like is the wide selection of articles they have and a little symbol on the front page that tells you how many minutes it should take you to read it (no pressure!)  So this week I've been reading about "10 things I know about being happy (2 mins), 4 ways to make your brain work better (6 mins) and washing machine for men (4 mins). I learnt that "58 % of British men can’t use a washing machine properly because they find the household appliance confusing.”

There you go! Seriously the articles are really interesting and I've tried to change some of my habits already. For example, the brain one said that our minds weren't developed for multitasking and you shouldn't do what I do, which is switch in rapid succession from emails, Facebook, Twitter,web stuff, etc as this is blowing our minds and productivity. Instead, the man said that you should focus on 1 task at a time, so I won't be taking my iphone to the toilet any more...If nothing else you will get some lovely and interesting facts and stories after spending only a few minutes reading the 'mediums' and will look far more intelligent than you actually are and it's free! Min marks out of 10. - 9.13 

Thought of the week: Why don't travel agents ever ask you if you've got any nice haircuts planned?...

Right that's your lot! Have a great sleep and give your mothers an extra hug from me this Sunday.

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Wednesday 19th March 2014

Well hello hello! Yes, I know it's not Friday, or even Monday but just to keep everyone on their toes (who came up with that phrase...ballet dancers?) thought I'd do a blog today as left home super early and managed to get a seat on the tube.

Thanks so much for the blog views last week. I had a look at the view count and we are nearly at the 15,000 mark! Happy days!!

Most of the talk for the last week has been about the lost plane and all the conspiracy theories are  coming out. Yesterday, this bloke on the radio reckoned that the aliens had taken them.

This did get me thinking and I actually wrote an email to the US department of Defence last night. Just thinking that rather than them spending $1bn a pop on those triangle stealth bomber things which have that dynamic shape and non metallic paint to avoid being seen on radar, had they thought about just turning off their transponder?....

Ok, it may be 7:09 but the tube is full. Everyone is looking a bit sleepy and the chap next to me is reading about the chap who won £108m on the Euromillions this week. He's a mechanic and said he would be buying a sports car. Brilliant, thanks for that...

Now this week's app is super duper and it's called Battery. It's really good and helps keep your iphone battery in top nick. The two main functions I love apart from telling you how many seconds your battery will last, are the accelerate function, which closes down memory that isn't in use and has a lovely speed dial animation, and the 'remove junk files' function. I didn't know I would get so much satisfaction at removing 133mb of cache stuff but it's the next best thing to having a wash...It's free and Min marks out of 10 would be 9.33

There is a man opposite reading a book. Yes you heard that right..no wires or anything. It's called 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man' by John Perkins. He's on page 146 so hopefully he's got past the bit that happened in 2008...

At Baker Street and a very posh man has got on and sat next to me. Pin stripe suit, shiny shoes and perfect hair. Err hello there sir, this is the met line, not the Central line, we have a reputation to maintain. Now he has taken out his iPad mini (which as you would expect has a lovely leather smelling cover) so let's see what he does next. Will he be opening up the FT or Guardian app. Will it be some kind of spread betting app.... Err nope, he's opened up Candy Crush! Oh ok , you can stay on the Met line posh man...

A final thought to leave you with.  If Pistorius is found innocent I don't think anyone will risk throwing him a surprise party...

Ok, that's your lot! See you all again soon and have a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Monday 10th March 2014

Well hello hello and a happy 2014!

Yes, I know it's been a while my dear blog reader but I'm back! Thank you so much for all the kind comments about the blog and wanting to see it come back. (Thanks mum!)

So here we are on the lovely journey home from Farringdon to Rayners.

As you would expect, the tube is packed and I'm typing this with my nose. Most peeps are busy on their I-gadgets. Let's see what we have...

The bloke next to me is playing snake. Nice old school. Giving his next gen processor a real work out there I see.

Everyone is out in their summer wear after the fantastic weekend. I too decided to leave big coat at home today even though I'm indian. Might wear a sweater, or as we call it swetttter tomorrow.

Today's advert is from Sky. "Tricky to get in your flat" and a picture of a table football. "Not tricky to get in your flat" and a picture of a tv with some blokes playing football. Great. Thanks Sky. Shame I live in a house...

Plenty of gadgets and apps to update you on but the one that I'm loving at the moment are the Bluetooth gloves that Rajvi brought me for Christmas. Picture the scene...it's cold, you have big coat on and someone rings your mobile (don't worry it's gonna be cold again next week) and the phone rings. Damn, now you need to take off your gloves to receive that call from your mum to say your running late as the met line seems to have developed a track failure. Well, now, I don't need for my fingers to get cold. Oh no! I have bluetooth gloves. The glove buzzes when you get a call and the mic and ear piece is stitched into the glove! Amaze balls I hear to cry. And so you should. It works brilliantly and ok, I got a few strange looks as I started to talk into glove when I was in WHSmith's the other day, but as I was in the 'what gadget' magazine area, it was all good...it's about £30 and super fun. The battery lasts ages and the sound is super clear...min marks out of 10. 9.13

What I've been watching on TV. Ok, I've got addicted to this American TV programme called Shark Tank. It's the US version of Dragons Den but loads more fun. The dragons aren't so miserable and don't just go for the standard 'I want 40% of your company. Check it out it's really good and I've been using this app call 'Music Tube' to watch it during my daily journey. The app allows you to cache any YouTube video so you don't need access to an internet connection. Happy days...

What else...this chap has just tapped me on the shoulder whilst I'm typing this and said "You remind me of an American Indian".  No idea what he meant so said "How?"...

Well that's your lot as I've got a seat at Wembley so gonna have a nap now.

Have a great sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 6th December 2013

Well hello hello! And it's December already! (Note to self - get an advent calandar from Tescos on the way home and eat the first 6 days before putting up on the wall)

The met line is only 53% full today so I wonder if that's because everyone is starting to take their annual leave before the year end. Either that or because it's 7:14 and normal people don't commute at this time...

Advert of the week: "Give Hunger the Finger"...woah, this is an advert for the 'Just Eat' app, which allows you to order from takeaways online. I was reading some of the customer reviews of the app and I think most of them were unfortunately giving the app the finger...

There is a man next to me watching a Korean drama series on his iPhone 4S. It looks quite interesting but even the subtitles are in mandarin so I will ask him about the plot in a bit...

So, last night I had a knock on the door at about 8:43 and in good Russell Peters style, mum looks like her watch and says that infamous line 'hoo is it? At this time?" It was of course the amazon man who had a PS4 shaped box for me. We are on first name terms as he seems to come to our house every day and he's invited me to his daughters wedding next year. When I say first name terms, not sure if 'amazon man' is his real name, though he calls me Min which is also made up.

Back to the plot. So spent the evening unpacking the new toy and setting it up. I received the PS3 for my 40th, so quite nice to get the PS4 for my 45th. Wonder what I will get for my 50th...

First impressions is that it's really good, the controller is loads better and has a built in speaker and a tilt sensor. The whole device is a lot lighter just in case you want to take it for a walk from time to time. After the inevitable - update available screen, I had a quick play with the menus, loaded up iplayer, bbc news, bbc sport and videozone and signed up to the free 14 day PS Plus trial which allows you to some free (not that good) games and to play online. Seeing as I hadn't actually got any new games yet, I just watched The Matrix again to test out the BluRay. Yep, he still took the blue pill..

Call of Duty - Ghosts should be delivered by amazon man tomorrow, so that should be the weekend sorted. There is also a PS app which allows you to connect your phone to the device and use it as a second screen. Hurrah...

Min marks out of 10 so far... 9.04

App of the week: My brother in law told me about this app and it's super duper. It's called LS Addicts, and no it's not an app to wean you off the drugs but a football scores app. Now I know there are loads of those already but what is great about this one is that as each team you want to follow starts playing, you get a lifelike referee's whistle being blown! It's very exciting. Seriously, the best bit is that if someone scores a goal, it goes and hunts down that goal from the internet and plays it to you! It's usually from some foreign station but I now know how to say 'goal' in 12 languages...It's free so get it now. Min marks out of 10. 9.67

Thought of the week: Do you ever wake up, kiss the person sleeping beside you and feel glad to be alive? I did and I apparently won't be allowed on that airline again...

Ahem! Right, let's leave it there! I hope you have a lovely weekend and a great sleep!

A small man called Min.

 

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 29th November 2013

Well hello hello! I trust you have been having a lovely week. Well the day has finally arrived. Yes folks, Black Friday...hurrah! Looking outside at this time, its certainly very dark. 

I wasn't going to do a blog today, as today is the launch of the PS4, so was going to work from home. However, as I only decided to get one earlier this month, I'm not guaranteed to get one today, though should get it before Christmas.

To be honest my dear blog reader, even if it did come today, not sure how much I could have done with it as I haven't actually brought any games for it and my. PS3 ones won't work on it...

Advert of the week: "Inseparable means always being in touch" Cheers Vodafone...power to you...

There is a man on a tube reading..wait for it...wait for it...a book! I can only see the back cover which says "utterly absorbing, utterly addictive, utterly mindblowing". Guess someone's learnt a new word today. For some reason I now feel like some toast with some butter on it now. Will report back if I can see what the actual book is called.

What I watched on iplayer this week: loads of stuff! But something that has caught my eye is a new series called 'Animal odd couples'. Yesterday it showed how some massive American buffalo thought this bloke was his parent. The chap even let him go around the house and said but if he wants to go to the bathroom, he'll just go to the door! Wowza! There was also another bloke who had managed to become part of a hyena pack (or whatever the phrase is). I thought he was particularly brave, especially when I think back to what happened in lion king...

The bloke has put the book away and is now just looking out the tube window.. Perhaps not quite as utterly absorbing as he was led to believe me thinks...

App of the week: Group shot pro. Picture the scene (see what I did there!), you've gone to some random wedding (it's an Indian thing), and it's time for snapping those group photos with your cousins and buddies in front of the lovely vase and flowers in the entrance hall of the country manor. Someone has the bright idea of saying, hey Kawks, take some pics of me and these lovely ladies in front of these flowers for my FB page. In the old days, when we used to have Kodaks and only 36 valuable pictures to use, it was always...err sorry uncle, I've run out of film. But now, we are all like...yeah how ever many you like! 

And here is where the app comes into it's own. It's that moment..'Say cheese', though us Indians tend to use the 'say Ghee (you just tried that right and it works just as well right) and we all know what happens. Yep, there is always one person who has blinked, looked away or picking their nose! And that's where this app comes in. It takes a series of shots in quick succession and then it allows you to replace the faces with another shot when they do actually manage a smile. It's quite fantastic and I'll give it a min marks of 10 of 8.76.

Thought of the week: If you want to set up a company and run it then that's your business...

Right! Let's leave it there! Have a lovely weekend and a great sleep.

A small man called Kawks

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 22nd November 2013

Well hello hello! How are we all? Firstly, let me apologise for the no show last week. I was in South Korea and they didn't have a Met line for me to blog from.

For those who have never been to this wonderful land, you definitely should, the next time you are in the neighbourhood! The tech there is simply super cool. Having got off the 11hr flight and having had a taste of Korean hospitality (Prestige class - well I needed the leg room right? ), I was booked into a six star Conrad hotel in the executive suite on the 32nd floor which was simply massive and rather bigger than the Travel lodge I usually take take Mrs Min to on our anniversary. The bathroom had more gadgets than I've seen in my entire life, and that was just the toilet! It had options to give you a massage, knew when you sat down and automatically gave the bowl a quick rinse and memory settings for the whole family for making sure the pressure, angle and temperature were just right for each bear in the family! Oh and it had a button for 'dryer' too! 

So after a few hours playing with the settings I ventured into the main bathroom and saw they had some buttons on the wall (that will never take off over here), and like the little kid I am, I started pressing them. One of them made the glass wall between the bathroom and bedroom go from clear to frosted, which I imagine was there just in case Mrs Min had come along too and I didnt fancy showing her my six pack or or my rather red and dried out bum. 

Then, I saw a remote control in the bathroom (as you do), between the 'his and hers' sinks. To my amazement, and I think the actual word I uttered to myself as this was happening was 'amaze-balls', because a flipping TV embedded into the bathroom mirror came on. Wowza!!  Took me about an hour to brush my teeth!

The hospitality provided by the local firm and their clients during the visit was truly amazing and for the first few days since I've been back, I've been getting a few weird looks on the met line as I bow to each person as I get on the train...

Woah, nearly at work now so just gonna quickly do app of the week.

App of the week: Hot UK Deals, Been using this app loads this week and in essence it uses crowdsouring to tell us what fantastic offers are currently available on everything in our supermarkets as well as online. You can even set up deal alerts to look for something specific. I've obviously set one  up for PS4. So if you were interested in amazing offers such as Levi Roots reggae reggae sauce is now only 20p at Sainsbury's, get this free app now! Min marks out of 10....9.20

Joke of the week: Yes, that bloke who invented the invisibility cloak had his 15 minutes of fame, but where is he now?

Ahem! Right, that's your lot. I hope you have a great weekend and a lovely sleep!

A small man called Min

Got anything new to report? - Min's MinIT Update. Friday 8th November 2013

Well hello hello! How are we all? I hope you have all had a lovely week.

I'm feeling a bit sleepy this morning so let's not mess about and get on with the show!

Advert of the week: "It felt like reading a book". Woah! That's brilliant! What was that you wonder? perhaps a book? Nope..it's the 'All-New Kindle paperwhite' I think I might change career and do adverts going forward as I reckon I could do just as well! How about for advertising toilet roll, the slogan...so soft you can use it for wiping your tears and your..."..maybe I'll stick to the day job for a tad longer...

What's happening Tube people?: A mother (I think it's the boy's mother but unless I see the birth certificate or request a DNA sample can't be quite sure), who is sitting next to me, has given her 'son' his school breakfast. It's a snickers bar. Nice...

That's made me think of my favourite cereal advert- coco- pops. We were only allowed it every Friday. The slogan was 'so chocolaty that it makes the milk go brown', though we used to tweak it slightly to 'so chocolaty it makes your teeth go black'...

If my writing is going a bit slanty, that's because the man next to me has fallen asleep with his head on my shoulders. Nice...

App of the week: Camfind. No it's not something that helps you find good deals if your in the market for a camcorder, but a really nifty app that helps you identify stuff, using your camera. So, take a picture of anything from a famous person, building, object and it recognises what it is and gives you a whole heap of info about it. I tested it by taking a picture of the Pizza Hut box that contained our lovely veg supreme (no mushrooms but pineapple instead) pizza last night. And before you could say "I feel sick...go on then... last slice", it had pulled back from the interweb, where my local Pizza Hut was, menus, coupons and even a site asking me if I was interested in a career with pizza hut. It's quite amazing and yes folks it's even free to download. Get it now and impress your imaginary friends. Min Marks out of 10...9.36.

Console update: yes folks, finally put in my order for the PS4, launching on the 29th of Nov. Over 1m peeps have done the same so might be quite a long queue at Game in Harrow that day! I thought in these times of recession I should sell my old PS3 games as the new device won't play them. I looked at a few of those trade in sites to see what my games would be worth. Most of the ones I had brought last year for between £30 and £40 were worth around £2.50, with Fifa 2012 showing me that I could get a massive 35 pence (as long as the CD wasn't scratched!) Decided to just keep them on my shelf in the end as I heard yesterday that Sony will introduce backward compatibility next year.

Thought of the week: Too many pigs seem to die whilst eating apples...

Right, let's leave it there! Have a lovely weekend and a great sleep!

A small man called Min